Shayne Looper: Wisdom, foolishness are proved right by their children

Sunday

Jesus said, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children.” That being so, what are the children of America proving about the wisdom or foolishness of our culture?

Jesus said, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children.” That being so, what are the children of America proving about the wisdom or foolishness of our culture?

The Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute recently released its 2008 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth. The data were based on a survey of almost 30,000 students from 100 randomly selected public and private high schools. The results were so alarming that they made headlines all over the nation.

Almost a third of students surveyed admitted to stealing from a store within the last year. Nearly a quarter stated that they had stolen from a parent or other relative.

Eighty-three percent said that they lied to a parent about an issue of some importance. Forty-three percent admitted to lying in order to save money.

Sixty-four percent of students have cheated on at least one test. Nearly forty percent say they have cheated on more than one. An additional thirty-six percent of participants admitted to plagiarizing.

As bad as that seems, the situation may be even worse than it appears: Twenty-six percent of respondents admitted to lying while answering the survey questions.

These statistics flooded the airwaves a couple of weeks ago, receiving time on major news outlets around the country. In one of these news spots, an expert suggested that perhaps kids aren’t any more likely to lie and cheat than they have ever been; they are just more honest about it. That seems a little disingenuous to me: If students (with guaranteed anonymity) admit to lying, that somehow makes them more honest?

But are they less honest? Probably not. At least, not any less honest than they were 10 years ago, when the 1998 Report Card revealed a similar number of students who lie and cheat.

However, the number of students who admit to lying and cheating is not (to me) the most worrisome data from the survey. What worries me more is that a whopping 93 percent of students (many of the same students who admit to lying, stealing and cheating) said that they consider their ethics and character to be satisfactory.

What kind of mindset is necessary for a person to admit to stealing, lying and cheating while at the same time feeling completely comfortable with his or her ethics? Even more alarming is that 77 percent of students surveyed agreed with the statement: “When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”

Have years of pounding “self-esteem” themes into our kids’ heads led to this? “I lie, cheat and steal, but that’s OK because I believe in myself. I’m OK, and you’re OK (though I’m not too sure about you).”

The philosopher J.P. Moreland attended his daughter’s graduation from the DARE program. Six children were selected to read brief papers expressing their reasons for saying “no” to drugs. He notes that each paper was a variation on the theme of self-interest. The reason for staying off drugs was, in a word, “success.” Students were not trained to think in terms of virtue, duty or responsibility but in terms of their own potential accomplishments.

When morality is rooted in self-interest rather than in an objective moral order, it will inevitably degenerate into the state of affairs in which we now find ourselves.

So I ask again: What are American children proving about the wisdom of our culture of self-interest? They are proving that the Enron debacle and the other ethical fiascos of the past decade were not an anomaly but rather the natural outcome of an unwise approach to life.

They also may prove, I fear, that things are not going to turn around any time soon.

Shayne Looper writes for the Coldwater, Mich., Daily Reporter.

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